


Rolled a Twenty for Romance

by DemiMuiraquita



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dungeons & Dragons References, F/F, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-04 10:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20469419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemiMuiraquita/pseuds/DemiMuiraquita
Summary: It all starts when Jake decides to get a pristine 7th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Collection (From before World War Three!) as a birthday present to his dad, who lost the one he had when growing up during Wolf-359. It dramatically spirals out of control, as it tends to, on Deep Space Nine.





	Rolled a Twenty for Romance

**Author's Note:**

> For the [Star Trek Femslash Big Bang 2019](https://trekfemslashbang.tumblr.com/).
> 
> _Gorgeous_ art by **[idealisticcatastasis](https://idealisticcatastasis.tumblr.com/post/187744203060/shes-jolted-out-of-her-thoughts-as-jadzia-laid-a)** on Tumblr!
> 
> And lastly, _huge_ thanks to the best beta-reader out there, [ThatAloneOne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatAloneOne)!

The day had been going perfectly well so far for Quark: the customers were moderately happy, his bar replicators hadn’t malfunctioned _ yet_, not a single person had been angry because of an _ unlucky _ dabo round and come ask for the manager. All in all, things were going perfectly well. _ Too _ well, he felt. Maybe… Maybe something was missing?

"Well now, Quark," Odo intoned, dripping down from a bottle on the top shelf of the bar to stand at his side, making Quark give off a little _ meep. _ "I know very well of your newest scheme, and I’ll have you know I’ll find a way to link you to it sooner or later."

Putting a hand on his chest and leaning against the bar wall, Quark sighed. "Never mind, there it is," he muttered.

"And what was that?" Odo asked, looking at Quark for all the world like his suspicion jumped ten-fold in the last twenty seconds.

"Nothing! Never mind all that!" Quark replied, breathing deeply with a hand over his heart. "I was just minding my own business, clearly, as you can see here. And the day had been going _ fantastically _ up until you decided to scare me half to death!"

Making a small harrumph that was clearly meant to express doubt, Odo circled around the bar to be able to properly peer down on Quark. "Well, you can stop pretending now, I’ve tracked down your _ accomplice _ and it’s best if you just confess now to save yourself some time".

Moving on to clean one of the glasses around the bar, Quark inched closer to Odo, inclining his head upward to stare at him. "Well, you might think I have something to do with this _ accomplice _ that you mention, but I can guarantee I have nothing to do with any smuggling! My hands are clean!" Quark moved to stand at the end of the bar, still holding the glass, furiously wiping it with a towel. "Well! Who told you! It was Rom, wasn’t it! I knew I should have never told him anything _ at all!" _

Smirking slightly, Odo leaned down on the bar, producing a PADD from inside his gelatinous shape. "So you’re confessing to it then?"

"I’m confessing to _ nothing!" _ Quark squealed. "Besides, what did he even say to motivate you to start a… an _ investigation _!" Quark sneered at the word as if it had personally insulted his latinum balance. "I swear I’ll kill him myself if he babbled to you, of all people! I knew I should’ve kept my lips sealed when he was near!"

Looking almost _ delighted _ at the turn of events, Odo slowly moved closer to the stool at the bar. "You see, your brother told _ me _ nothing." At Quark’s narrowed eyes, Odo continued, "But since I have confirmed the story, I believe I can say it to you now, Quark. It’s truly a _ noble _thing you are doing, charging so little for the Item Jake requested of you."

"And exactly _ how _ did you get this information of yours Constable?" Head thrown back, Quark looked distinctly offended at having been called ‘noble’. "And keep your voice down! I can’t have everyone on the station to know I cut a good deal for the kid!"

Taking a glance at Quark, Odo continued, "Well, if you must know the whole story, you better sit down Quark." Looking dubiously at the bar-stool, Odo sat down. "It all started this morning, I was departing my office when I passed by Garak’s shop, and I overheard the most _ absurd _ tale..."

* * *

Bashir moved closer to Garak’s sewing table, "But, Garak, that was _ exactly _ what he said!" Bashir, seemed completely exasperated, voice clearly trying to be quiet, but so shrill the conversation could be heard from the promenade.

"Far be it for me to say you’re wrong my _ dear _ Doctor! I’m just suggesting that maybe, Chief O’Brien just did not have enough information." Garak seemed delighted in provoking Bahsir’s irritation. "Besides, I’m not sure young Jake would divulge such knowledge this early. According to your own recounting of the story, the equipment necessary for this _ ‘game’ _ hasn’t even arrived yet!"

Bashir just looked irritated at that, "Yes, well! I trust Miles, and that’s why I came to you. I want to be part of this game, and I know _ exactly _the character I want to play! I just need some, ah, some help with the content of their, ah, backstory…"

With a smirk that could rival Jadzia Dax, Federation Smirking Champion of 2369, Garak leant forward, eyes alight with mirth. "It’s a spy, isn’t it, _ dear _ Doctor. Your character?"

Visibly embarrassed, Bashir looked at anywhere other than at Garak. "Yes, ah, well. I figured you, ah, could help me write an interesting backstory to the character. For all your experience-" Looking up, Bashir fixed Garak with an intense stare, "-with literature, of course."

"Of course, my _ dear _ Doctor, _ of course." _ Grinning almost too wildly, Garak turned back, suddenly leaving a wide space between them. "Now, I _ must _ finish these clothes, Doctor. We’ll talk more over lunch?"

Almost running out of the tailor’s shop, Bashir just cast a single wide smile over his shoulder. "Of course! See you there!"

The tailor shop was blissfully silent for some brief moments, before Garak’s voice took on a more serious tone, "Well now, Constable! You can come inside. No sense in loitering about on the promenade, hmm? Even if you _ are _ the shop’s sign." As Odo slowly entering the shop, Garak let go of a small huff. "And what is this about spying on _ me! _ A simple tailor, about on his business!"

"Hmm, I’m _ sure _there’s never been any illicit business conducted on this shop, Garak, but if you must know, I was only passing by when I heard exalted voices and came to be sure there was nothing malicious occurring." Harrumphing one more time with his head held high, Odo just looked down at Garak, "And what was this about Jake! I hope you’re not involved in causing trouble in any way for the boy!" Odo glowered menacingly at Garak, as much as he could muster any kind of glower.

"I have done _ nothing _ of the sort, I’ll have you know! Doctor Bashir was only telling me that young Jake is planning to _ ‘run’ _ a game for his father’s birthday, a Terran custom, if I’m not mistaken." A small smile played over Garak’s face. "The good Doctor only wanted me to give him some small help with his character, you see."

"Hmm, and exactly _ how _ has Jake acquired this ‘_Game’ _ of his?" Odo’s suspicion was palpable, his simulated eyebrows climbing ever higher on his forehead. "You don’t have anything to do with this now, do you?" Odo leant forward, as if to watch Garak more closely. "And where did Doctor Bashir get such information at any rate?"

"Well, that, for all intents and purposes was the good Chief O’Brien. They were talking on Ops, from what I understand," Garak stated, with a decidedly even tone.

Odo stared down at Garak some more, before finally huffing and storming out, only pausing briefly at the door to turn back and say, "There’s something you’re not telling me Garak, but I _ will _ get to the bottom of this!"

* * *

"And are you _ sure _ Rom mentioned nothing else?" Odo asked, looking at Chief O’Brien from the low height form of a Cardassian vole with a roughly humanoid head.

"Well, Constable, it’s not like I can guarantee any of what I'm talking about is it? And I'm just talking to you _ now _ because Rom said you’d want to be part of it, wouldn't you?" The chief said, waving the hyperspanner he was using around.

"_Excuse me?!_" Odo exclaimed, almost surprised beyond belief. "You- You’re inviting… _ me?_" His slack-jawed expression grabbed the attention of Chief O’Brien, who couldn’t help but smile softly at Odo.

"Of course, Odo. You’re an integral part of this, crew, this _ family. _Besides I took a bet with Julian that you’d memorize all the rules to run a Seventh Edition Game in less than a day." O’Brien pointed to his PADD and smirked. It was unlocked and open on the Spacenet browser, the Wizards of Luna logo on the header, and below that were many links to digital copies of Dungeons & Dragons Seventh Edition’s books.

Odo extended a limb from his lizard shape, picking up the PADD and holding it for a moment in front of his face. "_Hrm, _ well. I’d hate to disappoint you now, would I, Chief?" The smile on Odo’s face was small, but firm, until it gave way to a small frown. "I still have one last lead to find. But thank you for the formal invite." To which he took off, running with the PADD in hand, his six legs making easy work of the space between where O’Brien was and the Jefferies Tube access.

"Well what I wouldn't give to be able to do _ that_, now." The Chief grumbled, before going back to work, a smile on his face.

* * *

"I _ swear _ I know nothing Odo!" was the first thing that greeted Odo as he entered Quark’s Bar storage area.

"Now, Rom, I did not even talk yet! What gave you the impression that I came here to ask specifically about how your brother Quark has been contracted to smuggle a rare terran artifact into this very station?" Odo smiled cynically, expanding his mass until he was towering over Rom.

"B-b-but Odo! I-I-I didn’t do anything this time!" Rom almost whined, cowering behind a barrel of Aldebaran Whiskey., "Quark told me not to tell anyo-" Rom quickly covered his mouth, having realized to _ who _he was babbling Quark’s plan to.

Shrinking down to his standard size, Odo just extended a hand for Rom to take. "Come now Rom," he said, shaking his hand slightly until Rom decided to take it. With that Odo pulled him to stand. "Now, will you calm down and tell me _ exactly _ what has Quark gotten himself into?" He gave Rom a kind look, not wanting to startle the man any more than he already had.

Looking from one side to the other, as if expecting Quark to materialize there at any instant, Rom started to whisper, "W-well, I just know what he told me, really." At this he looked to the ceiling, then continued, "He’s bringing in an old hew-mon book, from before their last global war, from what I understand, and it’s not _ that _ expensive really, that’s how Jake managed to buy it but, uh," Rom looked around one last time, extended his arm, held Odo by his simulated uniform and brought him to his level, before whispering, "He’s uh, Quark, that is. Is uh, _ paying for the shipping_." Rom’s scandalized face was only rivaled by _ Odo’s_, who was so shocked he did not move for a couple of moments.

"Now, Rom, you can’t be serious?!" Odo demanded, straightening back and holding himself tall, a frown bearing down on his face, "Is this some kind of _ prank?!_"

"It’s what I saw!" Rom jumped back from his position close to Odo. "I saw it myself in his PADD when I was looking over!" Rom now looked almost _ affronted _ that Odo would think he had gotten something like _ that _ wrong, "But if you don’t believe me you should ask Quark himself!"

"_Hrm_, well, if you what you’re saying is true..." Odo continued, ignoring Rom’s protests, "...then there’s something _ else _ going on here that I have not understood yet." Looking down at Rom he shook his head, "Oh very well. Thank you for your information Rom." With that, Odo turned and left as suddenly as he had arrived.

* * *

"Can you believe him!" Odo said, entering his office where Kira was seated, waiting for him to arrive for their daily security checkup. "I _ will _get to the bottom of this mess."

Kira just sighed deeply. "Odo, please, I’m sure there’s nothing _ that _ serious happening." Seeming to think it over for a moment, Kira lifted one eyebrow. "Well, nothing that’s more important than the current concerns of station security, anyway."

"Well, you can give more of your _ opinion _ after your hear what I’ve gathered so far," Odo said, and proceeded to tell the _ whole _ chain of events to Kira, whose eyebrows just moved farther and farther into her hairline.

"Well, I’ll be! For _ free?_" Kira squinted at Odo, as if doing _ that _ would change the explanation he had given. "I knew Quark must _ have _ been up to _ something_, with the Captain’s birthday getting closer, but for free!" Kira slumped in her chair, astonished at Quark’s generosity.

But Odo was going through a different process, a cross between a long suffering smile and a consternated frown. "Captain Sisko’s birthday, you say," Odo intoned, his tone steady, with intense tiredness. "Of course that’s why Quark is bringing in Jake’s request free of charge, that little-" he descended into quiet grumbling, which gathered Kira’s attention.

"Odo?" she asked in a surprised tone, "you didn’t know it was the Captain’s birthday this week?"

"Well, it-" He cleared his throat, "-It _ might _have escaped my notice, yes," Odo said, in a measured voice. "But that’s hardly relevant right now. I have to catch up with Quark!" He said, standing and proceeding to scurry out of the office, leaving Kira with an amused smirk on her face.

Just as he was leaving, Kira called after him, almost laughing: "Just don’t arrest him!"

* * *

"Well, Odo! That was sure a story! But you still have absolutely no proof, just Rom’s ramblings." Quark squinted at Odo, trying to look at him in the eyes, craning his neck upward. "And besides, even if you _ had _ proof, I'm doing _ nothing _ wrong. Just serving as a legitimate courier to a legitimate client who’s acquiring a legitimate item." Quark said indignantly, "And besides any of that, I bet _ you _ don’t even have a character ready yet!"

"And what does _ that _ have to do with anything!" Odo growled, stomping away from Quark., "But if you must know, I _ have _ a character, and they’re _ FINE." _ Odo said, looking backwards as he stormed off, only _ just _avoiding bumping into Morn, who was carrying a tray of drinks to the stairs. Morn moved to steady Odo, but before he could open his mouth Odo righted himself to continue on his way out.

* * *

"And that was what Odo told me, before storming off to find _ Quark_, can you believe it!" Kira said, gesturing wildly as she finished telling that morning’s tale to Jadzia, who was seated across from her on the replimat on their after-duty raktajino meetup. "He didn’t even finish our briefing!" She shook her head, "Ah, honestly. Some days, Odo and Quark seem to be mar-" She cut herself when she looked at Jadzia, who had an unfocused look on her face, the one for when she was _ planning _ something. "-Dax! Are you even listening to me?"

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Jadzia turned to Kira, her face mischievous. "Nerys don't you _ know _ what this means?" she said excitedly. "We have to make characters of our own!"

Kira adopted a look of exasperation at that. "Jadzia! We’re not making _ any _ characters! We don’t even _ know _ if Jake’s really looking to invite anyone to the game with the Captain!" But now that Jadzia had said it, unbridled, the idea of making a character to play on a game like this came to Kira’s mind. _ ‘I could even base it off a classic story’ _ passed by her mind, before she re-focused on Dax who had a giant smirk on her face. "No, Dax! Don’t even start with me! I _ know _ you want to go to the holosuite to do it, but if you want _ me _ to do it with you we’ll do it _ my _ way!" she said, blushing slightly.

Jadzia’s smirk got even _ wider_. "Oh, so you will create a character with me, then?" Jadzia had the expression of a hara-cat that got the enyak’s milk at Kira’s blush, but instead of pointing it out she just continued, "Well, what are we waiting for! Let’s go!" Jadzia said, standing up, grabbing Kira’s hand in hers and pulling her alongside, smiling softly under her eyelashes at her vivid blush, and turning to sprint across the promenade to the turbolift. Smiling at one another all the way until the doors closed, but not before hearing Odo’s faint scream from somewhere else:

"No running on the promenade!"

* * *

Kira was in Dax’s quarters, seated on the floor. The many art-books alongside replicated cups of jumja tea strewn around them, a mess on the floor.

Kira could only stare at Jadzia’s hands as she quickly drew design after design for her character. She hadn't told Dax the origins of the name she had chosen, and Dax had not enquired further after she mumbled her way out of the question, citing that it was _ ‘Just a Bajoran name!’_. 

She should _ probably _ not have said _ anything _ at all, not have said _ any _ name, really, but now that she had, there was no going back. And _ well_, it was not like Dax had _ known _ who Riin Meru was, let alone the importance she had for Kira. Learning to sit down, having time to relax, time not doing something essential to her continual survival had been a steep learning curve after the Occupation. Few things had, in those early days, gave her so much peace as reading Adelpha Ren’s _ ‘After, After’_, a story about a young woman finding love in the Spirit of the Land, Linea, after the occupation.

Maybe it _ was _ a little sappy, it’s true, but it helped her greatly at that time, when she was still cagey about attending mandated therapy for the Bajoran Militia members, pretending to be perfectly well, only letting her guard down in her quarters. Maybe she had thought about how she saw so much of Linea in Jadzia; maybe she had thought of how similar she was to Meru. Maybe she should _ not _ think those thoughts as Jadzia looked up from her work: a beautiful sketch of a bajoran woman, features similar to herself, but distinct all the same. Maybe she should _ definitely _stop thinking about Jadzia’s beautiful smile as she looked at her.

She’s jolted out of her thoughts as Jadzia laid a hand on her arm. "What are you thinking about?" Dax says, with a low tone, almost as if not wanting to break her thoughts. "You wandered there for a second."

She shakes her head, looking at Dax’s warm smile, before smiling herself. "It’s nothing, really; I was just wondering how did _ you _ learn to draw." She knew it was a weak cover, but really, how was she supposed to _ think _ with Jadzia looking at her like that? "You have a fantastic style Dax!"

Jadzia smiled, before replying, "Well, thank you! You can thank Emony, however. She first took an interest in drawing when she was dating one Philippa Georgiou." Dax’ smile turned into a sly smirk, waggling her eyebrows for a moment. "She _ loved _ to draw Philippa while she was exercising."

Kira quickly covered her blushing face, scandalized. "You can’t just _ say _ those things!" Trying to cover the brief smile she got after seeing Jadzia’s eyebrow waggles, Kira looked at Dax: "I’m _ sure _ neither Captain Georgiou nor Emony would want you divulging personal information of theirs like that."

"Yes well!" Jadzia said, "What’s the use in having all those lovely ex-hosts inside if I can’t embarrass them from time to time?" she declared, smirk appearing in full force.

Kira just rolled her eyes. "Oh, you’re incorrigible." She looked at the design Jadzia had been doodling on the border of the page, some kind of shrubbery? "And what’s that you’ve got there?"

She didn’t have a better chance to look at it thought, since Jadzia swiftly covered it with her hand, closing the sketchbook quickly after. "Well! That’s a _ surprise _, if you must know!" She looked away, blushing lightly, a surprise to Kira, who hadn't seen Dax embarrassed in, well, ever. "And speaking of which! I have to go! Have to tell Jake about our characters! See you later!" she said, voice increasing in volume each word, and practically ran away from Kira’s quarters, only stopping at the door to give her one last smile before dashing out.

"Dax! What _ are _ you planning now," Kira mumbled to herself, eyebrows still raised high, mouth slightly ajar at Jadzia’s sudden departure.

* * *

"Jake! Jake wait up!" Jadzia was exiting the turbolift right by the entrance to Quark’s, when she spotted Jake walking briskly away after having spoken to Quark, from what she could see.

Jake stopped long enough for Jadzia to catch up, looking up at her, smiling. "Dax! What’s up?" He looked down at her arms, where she was still carrying her sketchbook. "Do you know how to draw Dax? Ziyal has one of those she uses for sketching."

Jadzia took her sketchbook from under her arm, opening the sketches she had made for Kira’s character, "Yes! And I was looking for you so we could settle a time and date for me to show you my character!"

Smile slight fixed to his face, Jake paused, turned to Jadzia, lifted both eyebrows. "The _ what _ now?"

Jadzia’s smile faltered some. She pointed at a drawing of Kira’s character she had made, a questioning look on her face. "You… know? The game of _ Dungeons and Dragons _ you’re running for your father’s birthday?"

Jake’s mouth slowly opened and closed several times, finally settling on a look of mild panic, before addressing Dax again, "Oh no! _ Oh no! _ How many people did you tell Dax, and _ how _ did you even discover I was going to do it!?"

"Well! Everyone on the senior staff, from what I understand." Jadzia took one serious look at Jake and surmised what she thought was the most probable chain of events that led to this situation. "You haven’t invited _ anyone _ yet, have you," she said, with a pained expression.

Jake panicked expression grew exponentially as he realized just _ how far _ the rumor had spread. "Oh my _ god_, I'm going to _ kill _ Quark," He shot Jadzia a filthy look at her sudden laughter. "Yeah, you laugh now, but I don’t know _ how _ many people are actually going to show up, Dax!" He looked stricken. "And if I invite people, and someone that thought they would be invited is not? What do I do then, huh?!"

As Jadzia’s laughter subsided she took a deep breath and held Jake by the shoulders, steering him towards the small benches close to the windows. "Now, now. No reason to get panicked! I’m sure there’s not _ that _ many people that know about the rumor. But if I were you I would work on tracking down the people that _ do _ know, otherwise the number might just grow." At Jake’s suddenly widening eyes, Jadzia hastened to explain, "Don’t worry! From what I understand only the senior staff, as I said before, plus Quark and Rom know about it." Taking pity on him she sat down. "You know, I’m sure it’ll be a _ blast_, Ben has always wanted to do a larger scale tabletop campaign. He _ almost _ roped Curzon into doing it, once. But you know Curzon, always a stick in the mud for things like that."

Jake’s small smile brought one to Jadzia’s face. "Thanks for that, I _ really _needed someone to give me a slap in the face, so to say." Turning to look at the wormhole as it opened, Jake’s voice turned wistful. "Dad’s not had a real chance to sit down and relax in a pretty long time, and to actually play a game with friends? It’s been years, probably."

They sat down, staring at the wormhole for a couple more minutes in silence, the only sounds were the station’s background noises. Until Jadzia looked at Jake, a smile quirking on her face. "Would you like some help?"

Jake grinned.

He couldn’t agree fast enough.

* * *

"So, did you manage to track down _ everyone?" _ Jake asked, as he and Jadzia walked down towards Jadzia’s quarters. They passed by Nog on the way, who quickly latched on to the group. "We’ve got the final count if you did."

Nog shook his head slowly, looking up at Jake. "From what I’ve read so far, in this version of the game they increased the calculations necessary to reach the end result for each dice roll by a large percentage. No wonder there weren’t that many people playing it at the time." He turned, elbowing Jake on the side, before smirking up at him. "You’re lucky you have me."

Jake sputtered for a moment, blushing wildly, before resting his hand on Nog’s shoulder. "Yeah," he said in a mumbled voice.

Jadzia, who by now was smirking on the sidelines of _ that _ interaction, just cleared her throat, making Nog and Jake whirl around to stare at her with wide eyes, before springing apart. She just took _ that _ in stride, taking the lead. "I _ did _ manage to track down everyone who had been _ ‘Invited’ _ to the game and, as we suspected, no one outside of Rom and Quark and the whole of the senior staff had caught on, except for Morn." At their horrified looks, she was quick to explain, "But don’t worry boys, he won’t be able to talk our ears off at the game, _ this time_. He had a prior engagement on Risa, and he won’t be here for the day of Ben’s birthday."

Jake almost slumped down in relief. "Oh thank god, I don’t know if I would be able to rein him in, it’s my first time DM-ing you know."

Nog nodded sagely, a knowing look on his face. "Wouldn’t want to get the first time jitters," he said, getting an elbow to the side from Jake in return. It just made his grin larger.

"So," Jadzia interrupted again, "Do we have a date?"

Jake nodded, a look of determination on his face. "We do."

* * *

With his birthday part in full swing, Benjamin Sisko couldn’t be happier. 

His son had taken on the responsibility of panning this whole affair, a surprise party! He had help, of course, he could see it now, all those times in the last week where his senior staff had been cagey about his birthday. He _ had _ made some sneaky allusions to his birthday, but no one had risen to the bait. They really were all in on the plan. He had gotten so far as to call his dad over Spacenet to complain about it, and he had the _ gall _ of feigning forgetfulness. He was really starting to get bummed out that no one had remembered, not even _ his own father_, when he entered his quarters to find all his friends inside, hiding behind the furniture, a large multicolored sign with replicated balloons hanging from it, all written in Bajoran: _ ‘Happy Birth Day’. _ He could recognize his son’s handwriting _ anywhere. _

He now looked on as the party goers went about, eating the food his dad had sent to Jake, which he had to admit, was _ incredibly _ good, having traveled in a stasis container or not. Even Garak, who he would imagine to _ detest _ human food, on account of his taste buds if nothing else, was having an enjoyable time eating a bowl of jambalaya.

And he could see it now, what Jake had mentioned. Jadzia and Kira, tucked in a corner of his quarters, not even a foot separating them, smiling to one another, talking quietly over drinks. From what he knew neither had asked the other out yet, nor given any clear indication of the feelings they _ clearly _ had for the other. He _ knew _ they had been dancing around it for time enough as it was, but he also was quite aware how incredibly clueless both were to the other’s feelings. Jake had talked before, briefly, about some kind of plan to set them up. He particularly couldn’t see how _ that _ could happen, but then again he hadn’t seen his own surprise party coming.

Shaking his head he turned to see Jake walking in his direction, a square box wrapped in festive paper in hand, and as soon as Jake was in range he embraced his son.

Jake looked up at him, a bright smile on his face as he gave him the gift. "Dad, I know you hadn’t had the opportunity to do this in a _ long _ time, so I hope you enjoy it." When Jake’s gift was set down safely Jake moved to hug him. "I love you Dad."

Sisko’s eyes shone with tears, hugging Jake tightly, "Oh, Jake." He released his son, so he could look into his eyes. "I love you too, Son." He moved to the side, taking the present again in his hands. 

He rolled it around for a moment, occasionally looking at Jake, who had a big grin on his face. "And what might _ this _ be, that you waited until now to give it to me?"

Jake just jutted his chin, pointing to the wrapping. "Come on, just open it!"

Sisko just smiled, before practically _ shredding _ the wrapping, and finally coming to face what was inside. "Oh, Jake!" A gigantic grin spread across his features as he looked to his son, who had a matching smile. "Jake you didn’t need to- I’m- Oh, Jake," he repeated, putting the gift aside to embrace his son again.

Once they had separated again, Sisko noticed the change that had taken place in his quarters. Not a single person besides him and Jake were present. He couldn’t pinpoint it, in his head, when _ that _ had happened. "And where has everyone gone?"

Jake’s smile got more and more devious as he moved to take a folded piece of clothing of some kind that was stashed behind one of the couches, before putting it over his head, revealing a long robe with a matching hood. "To change into their costumes, of course!"

Sisko, already with a good idea of _ where _ this was going only smiled as he asked, "Costumes? For what?"

There was only a big grin from behind the hood now, Jake’s face masked as if by shadow. "For the game! The one we’ll be playing in a moment! You’ve got your character ready, I take it?"

Letting loose a loud laugh, Sisko could only shake his head, "You _ rascal! _ Is _ that _ why you made me make a DnD character? Is that why you commissioned Ziyal to draw it?!"

Nodding along, Jake just pointed to the base of the replicator, where a small box sat, presumably containing the character’s costume. "Yes and yes. But the question here is: are you ready?"

A determined smile took over Sisko’s face, eyes narrowed, and he nodded once. "Always."

* * *

"Good evening gentlebeings, let me introduce myself: I’ll be your Dungeon Master today." Quickly bringing his hood down for a moment, Jake grinned at all assembled, who gave a round of applause. Pushing the hood back, the only thing remaining visible of his face was an unnaturally large grin, undoubtedly a holographic projection of sorts. Pointing to his side, where Nog was wearing a helmet with three two copies of his face on the sides, he continued, "And this is Rule Master Nog." At Nog’s thumbs up, he added, "He’ll be checking up on the rulebook as we go along, making sure we’re playing the game correctly."

Taking the original copy of the main module book in his hands, Jake asked, "I trust you have all studied the material that Chief O’Brien provided all of you?" At everyone’s ‘Yes’ and nodding, he continued, "So let’s start by introducing our characters, then. Let’s go clockwise from my left, why don’t you start, Chief?"

O’Brien nodded, adjusting his brown hat. "I’ll be playing Tifayore Elgani, a Gnome Inventor, hailing from the town of Ieirithymbul. She believes in trying to invent_ anything _she possibly can." The group collectively chuckled, "Her alignment is Chaotic Good, _and_ she’s married to Keiko’s character too!" Everyone smiled at that.

Jake shook his head, pointing to Keiko next. "Mrs. O’Brien?"

Keiko nodded and pulled on a mask, sharply white and black, with bright green lips. "My character’s name is Varana Brela, she’s a Halfling Ranger, has a mysterious past and serves a secret order of rangers, and her alignment is Neutral Good, and _ yes_, she _ is _ married to Tifayore." Keiko smiled and pointed to the next in line, Julian, who started to introduce his character.

And so they went, giving briefings on their character’s names, and alignments and beliefs, until the introductions reached Odo:

"Yes, well, my character is named Aru, a Changeling Paladin. Their alignment is lawful good and they believe in upholding the law." At Kira’s smirk and raised eyebrows, Odo just huffed, "_Hrm_."

Chuckling, Jake pointed to Kira next, who quickly fixed her red vest, before introducing her character, "My Character is Riin Meru, a Bajoran Adventurer, her alignment is Chaotic Good and she’s looking to help people fight injustice and to pursue the _ terrible _ villain Noma Cail." She paused at Odo’s loud chuckle, looking at him, annoyed. "Is there a problem Odo?"

He looked at her with a wide smirk. "That’s the name of that dreadful author, the one who wrote the _ awful _book about you and Shakaar," he said in a droll tone, his smirk only getting bigger as Kira sputtered.

Julian grimaced, looking around the table. "Well that’s a little bit weird," he chuckled nervously at the glare he received for his troubles.

Leaning back in his chair, dressed fully in the frilly ensemble that Vasily Yanovich, his character, a Human Bard usually dressed in, Worf shook his head with a frown. "I do not see why _ that _ is a problem."

Crossing her arms, and smirking, Jadzia slowly turned to look at Kira, making her _ almost _ blush under the scrutiny, "I agree with Worf,'' she said, not taking her eyes away from Kira, "I’m _ sure _ the Major would never do anything else besides just this, right?"

Bashir, still looking mildly uncomfortable, just squinted at them. "I don’t know, it’s kind of fishy to do something like that, isn’t it?" He looked at Jake, as if expecting the boy to agree with him.

"Well, aside from the ethics of naming your character’s arch-nemesis after that one author who wrote an, uh, how do I say this, a _ badfic _ about your time on the resistance," and here Jake lifts his hands to forestall any interruption by Kira, "And I'm not saying you’re wrong, it was a _ very _bad book, but I don’t see why- what I'm trying to say is that I don’t think it’s a big deal either."

Not being able to take much more of it, Kira finally bursts, "Well! It’s decided then! No need to revise anything! Let’s just continue on with the game!" She said, feeling almost out of breath as she weathered Jadzia’s intense half-lidded stare. She willed herself not to blush, lest she gave away how those eyes made her feel.

Feeling the tension setting in, Jake cleared his throat, and having gained the group’s attention again, pointed to Jadzia, the last in the order.

Jadzia pressed a button on a small device glued to her hair clip, and her appearance suddenly shifted, her skin turning an earthy texture, with leaves sprouting in place of her hair. At everyone’s _ ‘ah’s’ _ and _ ‘oh’s’, _ she smiled and proceeded with her introduction, stare fixed on Kira’s _ wide _ eyes and open mouth. "My character’s a Fey, a Spirit of the Land, to be precise, by the name of Linea." She didn’t even pause at Nerys’ loud gasp. "She’s come to Faerûn to care for the land and fell in love with an adventurer by the name of Riin Meru-"

Jadzia didn’t have the time to continue, she just heard the sound of a chair scraping, and when she looked over Kira was gone, the door of Sisko’s quarters closing behind her. There was absolute silence in the room, everyone staring at Jadzia but making no sound. 

Finally, Keiko snapped, making a shooing motion with her hands, she pointed to the door. "Como on Jadzia! What are you waiting for!"

Jadzia stared at the door for a moment, rose from her seat and went.

* * *

She found Kira leaning face first into the bulkhead, just outside of the door. Jadzia couldn’t see her face from this angle, but from the sounds coming from Kira, she was crying.

Kira didn’t give Jadzia a moment to say anything. She turned around and came to stand in front of Dax, her face contorting into the semblance of a grimacing smile. "Dax, I’m so sorry, it was just- It was just too much, do you _ know _ what that means to me?" Her expression shifted, a single tear running down her face. But before Jadzia could intervene and say anything Kira continued, "Jadzia you can’t just _ do _ things like that!" Kira’s face contorted in irritation, jabbing a finger into Jadzia’s earth-textured tunic. "You can’t just waltz in, casually mention that you’ve _ read _ my favorite book, and not only that, but that you _ know _ that the character you chose to play is in love with mine and just- Just! Argh!" She banged her hands on Jadzia’s chest, angry at her casualness in the whole situation. "Why did you do _ this _ to me Jadzia?!"

Kira didn’t have time to say anything else, since as soon as those words escape her lips, Jadzia was kissing her. Her hands cupped Nerys’ face, her lips the only thing not textured, just as soft as Kira had always imagined they would be. As they came up for air, Kira had a look of utter astonishment on her face, bringing up a hand to touch the lips that Jadzia had been kissing moments ago.

Jadzia only smiled, her thumbs caressing Kira’s cheeks. "Because I love you, Nerys," she said softly, taking in the way that Kira just started laughing silently, eyes still wild, but a full grin appearing on her face.

"So do I, you _ soft fool," _ Kira breathed out, as she leaned up to grab Jadzia’s lips in another kiss, breathing against her lips, "So do I."

They stayed like that, holding each other close for a few more minutes, time flying them by as they smiled and traded kisses, before Kira finally inclined her head towards the door. "You know," she said, smirking, "The big disadvantage of a love confession like this is that we can’t immediately go back to my quarters." At Jadzia’s surprised laugh she continued, "We should probably go back in, shouldn’t we?"

Chuckling softly, Jadzia nodded. She stole a brief kiss from Kira before grabbing her hands, pulling her along while she walked towards the door. Smiling all the way, she turned to look at Kira as she was ready to open the door, "We’ll have the rest of our lives for that," she said, winking.

* * *

Art by **[idealisticcatastasis](https://idealisticcatastasis.tumblr.com/post/187744203060/shes-jolted-out-of-her-thoughts-as-jadzia-laid-a)** on Tumblr!


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